Estonia reportedly decided on Thursday to hand over two of its citizens to the United States over their alleged involvement in a $575 million cryptocurrency fraud and money laundering scheme.
In November, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced the arrest of Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turõgin in Estonia on an 18-count indictment, including one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud, 16 counts of bank fraud, and one count of fraud. conspiracy to launder money in the US.
According to court documents, Potapenko and Turõgin offered the victims fraudulent equipment rental contracts with HashFlare, the crypto mining service the duo founded. They also asked the victims to invest in a so-called virtual currency bank called Polybius Bank, but never paid out the promised dividends. The victims are said to have paid more than $575 million to these two companies.
Local newspaper Postimess reports that Estonia first approved the extradition of Potapenko and Turõgin in September, but a court annulled the order on the grounds that the government had failed to take into account detention conditions in the United States.
Estonia now plans to carry out the extradition process after the Justice Ministry said it has collected sufficient evidence about detention conditions in the US, leading the agency to conclude that the conditions for the extradition have been met.
If convicted, Potapenko and Turõgin each face a prison sentence of up to 20 years.
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